Number 20: Giga-Brilliant (PHSW-EN042)

Card:  PHSW-EN042
Card Name:  Number 20: Giga-Brilliant
Attribute:  Light
Level/Rank:  3
Type:  Insect/Xyz/Effect
ATK:  1800
DEF:  1800

Card Text:
2 Level 3 monsters
Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; all face-up monsters you currently control gain 300 ATK.

Personal Comment:

Another great Xyz Monster from the Photon Shockwave release, Number 20: Giga-Brilliant is a support card that can give you that slight edge in winning a duel.  The summoning requirement is simple and it can be ran in virtually any deck (I don't know of any deck that doesn't have Level 3 Monsters).  The question is which is a better card...Number 20: Giga Brilliant or Number 17: Leviathan Dragon?

Attribute:
Giga-Brilliant - Light
Leviathan Dragon - Water
Winner - Giga-Brilliant.  This is the first Light Xyz Monster and can be played in more decks.

Level:
Giga-Brilliant - 3
Leviathan Dragon - 3
Winner - Push

Summoning Requirement:
Giga-Brilliant - 2 Level 3 monsters
Leviathan Dragon - 2 Level 3 monsters
Winner - Push

Stats:
Giga-Brilliant - 1800 ATK, 1800 DEF
Leviathan Dragon - 2000 ATK, 0 DEF
Winner - Leviathan Dragon.  The extra ATK will help it stay on the field longer.

Effect (these are lingering effects so the ATK increase are cumalative):
Giga-Brilliant - Once per turn: you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; all face-up monsters you currently control gain 300 ATK.
Leviathan Dragon - Once per turn: you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; this card gains 500 ATK.  If this card has no Xyz Materials, it cannot attack your opponent directly.
Winner - Push (this all depends on the situation during the duel)

So which card is better?  There's no correct answer (that's not the answer some are looking for but it's the honest truth).  Which card you play depends on what you want to accomplish.  If you're swarming the field with monsters, using Giga-Brilliant to boost all your monster's ATK by 300 (600 if you can detach the second Xyz Material) is absolutely brutal for an opponent to deal with.  However, the additional 500 ATK (1000 if you can detach the second Xyz Material) that Leviathan Dragon brings into play can take out most beat stick monsters your opponent might throw at you.  So whichever card you decide to run, have the other one in your side deck so you can adjust accordingly.  Don't run them both since summoning one will make it tougher to summon the other.  Both are great cards...that much I can say with certainty.

Personal Rating:
Artwork - 8/10
Power - 7/10
Easy To Play - 8/10
Collectable - 6/10
Overall Score - 7.25/10

Number 10: Illumiknight (PHSW-EN041)

Card:  PHSW-EN041
Card Name:  Number 10: Illumiknight
Attribute:  Light
Level/Rank:  4
Type:  Warrior/Xyz/Effect
ATK:  2400
DEF:  2400

Card Text:
3 Level 4 monsters
Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; send 1 card from your hand to the Graveyard and draw 1 card.

Personal Comment:

There are two major problems with Illumiknight.  One, the summoning requirement is rather difficult for a Rank 4 monster.  Two, the card effect doesn't offset the summoning requirement.  Is it really worth sacrificing 3 level 4 monsters to have the ability to send 1 card from your hand to the Graveyard and draw 1 card?  In addition, you will need a card like Plaguespreader Zombie in your hand (or a card that thrives in the Graveyard) to make sending a card to the Graveyard beneficial.  Tough to summon, tough to play, and the effect isn't game changing.  But since this Blog is about "featured" cards I must say something good to justifiy my reason for writing about it.  The 2400 ATK and 2400 DEF are decent stats.  In addition, Illumiknight is pretty cheap to purchase right now and it's worth adding to any collection.  I would just hold off on using it in a duel right now.

Personal Rating:
Artwork - 7/10
Power - 6/10
Easy To Play - 5/10
Collectable - 6/10
Overall Score - 6/10

Number 83: Galaxy Queen (PHSW-EN039)

Card:  PHSW-EN039
Card Name:  Number 83: Galaxy Queen
Attribute:  Dark
Level/Rank:  1
Type:  Spellcaster/Xyz/Effect
ATK:  500
DEF:  500

Card Text:
3 Level 1 monsters
Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; until the opponent's next End Phase, the monsters you currently control cannot be destroyed by battle, and if they attack a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing Battle Damage to your opponent.

Personal Comment:

For being a Rank 1 card, Galaxy Queen has two very impressive effects that assists all your monsters on the field.  The summoning requirement of 3 Level 1 monsters isn't difficult but it will take some time to gather (unless your running a deck filled with Level 1 monsters which isn't likely).  However, there are plently of great Level 1 monsters to choose from: Effect Veiler, Glow-Up Bulb, Battle Fader, Copycat, D.D. Crow, Turbo Synchron, and Kuriboh...just to name a few.

Once per turn, you can activate the first part of the effect by detaching 1 Xyz Material from this card.  By doing this, all your monsters on the field can't be destroyed by battle until your opponent's next End Phase (including Galaxy Queen so her low stats of 500 ATK and 500 DEF isn't much of a hinderance).  This is one of the best stall options available to buy you time if your opponent has an ATK beat stick on the field.  Just keep in mind that this is restricted to battles so Spell and Trap cards can still put a hurting on you.  Be sure you're prepared to deal with this if it should arise.

The second part is an added bonus that basically gives all the monsters you control an additional effect (until your opponent's next End Phase).  The ability to inflict piercing Battle Damage means if you attack a defense position monster, and you have higher ATK than the DEF of that monster, then the difference directly hits your opponent's life points.  Here's an example...

Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000 ATK) attacks a defense position Cosmo Queen (2450 DEF).
Calculation = 3000 - 2450 = 550 piercing Battle Damage
So: Cosmo Queen gets destroyed and your opponent's life points will decrease by 550.

Simply by detaching an Xyz Material, Galaxy Queen makes all the monsters you control harder to destroy and more powerful when they attack.  One of the best support monster card out today.  If you have it, run it.  If you don't have it, go get it.

Personal Rating:
Artwork - 9/10
Power - 5/10
Easy To Play - 7/10
Collectable - 7/10
Overall Score - 7/10

Thunder End Dragon (PHSW-EN044)

Card:  PHSW-EN044
Card Name:  Thunder End Dragon
Attribute:  Light
Level/Rank:  8
Type:  Dragon/Xyz/Effect
ATK:  3000
DEF:  2000

Card Text:
2 Level 8 Normal Monsters
Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; destroy all other monsters on the field.

Personal Comment:

With the release of Photon Shockwave we are starting to see the first batch of truly impactful Xyz Monsters.  It is also the debut of Thunder End Dragon, the first Rank 8 Xyz beat stick.  This card is stacked with 3000 ATK and 2000 DEF which means it will be an absolute force to deal with.  The summoning of Thunder End Dragon requires 2 Level 8 Normal Monsters, which for some will be a little tough.  Just to give you an idea, it basically requires 2 Blue-Eyes White Dragon (or monsters of the sort).  Sure there are various cards to Special Summon the required 2 Normal Monsters onto the field but at worse you will have to do 2 Tribute Summons.  Just remember, any Normal Monster Level 7 or higher requires 2 tribute monsters to summon (whereas Level 5 or Level 6 only requires 1 tribute monster).  But the hard work is worth it.  Once per turn you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card and destroy all other monsters on the field (yes, that does include your own monsters leaving only Thunder End Dragon standing).  Even when you use up both of the Xyz Material (that's one heck of a mess you're if you need to activate this effect twice) the stats alone should be formidable enough to handle whatever your opponent has left to throw at you.  Since the effect only destroys monsters on the field, Spell and Trap cards can still easily remove Thunder End Dragon from play.  So be sure to have cards in place to counter such a possible situation or all your hard work to bring this beat stick into play will be wasted.  Being the first Rank 8 Xyz, Thunder End Dragon gives you a glimpse of what's to come...it is impressive.

***If you are still having trouble Normal Summoning a high level monster, include the card Mausoleum Of The Emperor to make it a lot easier.  You don't need to tribute but will have to sacrifice 1000 Life Points for each tribute monster that was required.

Personal Rating:
Artwork - 7/10
Power - 9/10
Easy To Play - 7/10
Collectable - 7/10
Overall Score - 7.5/10

Number 39: Utopia (YS11-EN041)

Card:  YS11-EN041
Card Name:  Number 39: Utopia
Attribute:  Light
Level/Rank:  4
Type:  Warrior/Xyz/Effect
ATK:  2500
DEF:  2000

Card Text:
2 Level 4 monsters
When any player's monster declares an attack: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; negate the attack.  When this card is targeted for an attack, while it has no Xyz Materials: Destroy this card.

Personal Comment:
As the Synchro era is coming to an end, many people have debated if the new Xyz (pronounced "ek-seez") will be better and more powerful than the Synchro monsters that have dominated the dueling world.  Only time will tell.  I added Number 39: Utopia to my collection because it was one of the first Xyz monster to be released and it also gave me a chance to try him out.  The first thing you need to know is that Xyz monsters can't be used for Synchro Summoning because they are RANKS, not LEVELS.  In this case, Utopia is a Rank 4 monster that requires 2 level 4 monsters to bring him into play.  Once summoned, the two cards used become Xyz materials (which you place under the Utopia card on the dueling field).  While the stats are decent at 2500 ATK and 2000 DEF, the main purpose of this card is to hold off your opponent for two rounds when they have a beat stick above 2500 ATK in play.  Also note that once Utopia is out of Xyz material to discard, he will be destroyed by whatever monster attacks him (doesn't matter if it is a 100 ATK monster).  Overall, this is a useful stall card that you should try out and learn to play.  It will prepare you for things to come.  Because like it or not, the Xyz are coming.

Personal Rating:
Artwork - 7/10
Power - 7/10
Easy To Play - 7/10
Collectable - 7/10
Overall Score - 7/10